


Any Effort Just To See You Smile

by Oddree13



Series: OMGCP Advent Calendar [21]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Bathing/Washing, Caretaking, Comfort, Depression, Established Relationship, M/M, Seasonal Affective Disorder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 07:30:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13266654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oddree13/pseuds/Oddree13
Summary: The weather had been miserable for the last couple of days. The snow had been coming down almost nonstop for a week, and when it wasn’t snowing the sky was just a cloudy grey with no hint of sun. This wasn’t a big problem for Dex that was used to Maine winters with little to no sun, but Nursey? Nursey wasn’t faring well.





	Any Effort Just To See You Smile

**Author's Note:**

> For the twenty first day of the OMGCP Winter Extravaganza! Prompt - Blanket Fort

The weather had been miserable for the last couple of days. The snow had been coming down almost nonstop for a week, and when it wasn’t snowing the sky was just a cloudy grey with no hint of sun. This wasn’t a big problem for Dex that was used to Maine winters with little to no sun, but Nursey? Nursey wasn’t faring well. 

For the third day in a row Dex got back to their room and Nursey was huddle in his bunk, a sheet tucked under Dex’s mattress hanging over the side to enclose Nursey in what was effectively a blanket tomb. And judging by the mugs littered over the floor Nursey had yet to do more than eat whatever Bitty was bringing him and use the bathroom. 

“Derek?” Dex called out, wondering if Nursey was at least awake under the covers, and for his efforts he got a grunt in return. “Hey babe, how are you feeling?” he asked, lifting the sheets and sitting on the edge of the bed to run a hand over Derek’s back. 

“M’fine,” Derek mumbled, only looking at Dex from the corner of his eye. 

“Did you manage to take a bath today?” Dex continued, seeing that at the very least Nursey had eaten and had something more than tea. 

“No I forgot…” was the reply and Dex knew what he had to do. 

“I thought that might be the case so how about you wait right here while I get the bath ready okay?” Dex supplied, knowing that Nursey wouldn’t really argue at this point. 

It wasn’t common that Derek got like this, but slowly, over the years, Dex had gotten pretty good a seeing when these moods were coming and how to help. He knew it wasn’t something fixable, which frustrated him, but this wasn’t about him, it was about Derek. 

As the tub filled, Dex went into the linen closet and found his emergency stash, hidden at the back of the closet. Inside was filled with bath bombs, salts, and other things Dex had acquired that he knew made Derek feel fractionally human again. Pouring in some epsom salt, he tested the temperature and finding it to be good enough, walked back to the room to get Derek out of bed. 

“Come on babe, I got the bath ready. I’ve got you,” Dex soothed, helping Nursey off the bed and walking him to the bathroom. Once inside he helped Derek undress and sat him down in the tub. “I’ve got that lemon one you like,” he smiled, holding the bath bomb aloft, and plopped it into the water. 

“I just want you to rest there and I’ll be right back,” Dex instructed him as he walked out of the bathroom, knowing Nursey would be fine just resting there. Back in the room Dex striped Nursey’s bed and changed the sheets, knowing that fresh ones would do him some good. Once the old sheets were in the hamper he got his boyfriend fresh pajamas and went to knock on Chowder’s door. 

It didn’t take long for Chris to answer and once Dex explained the favor he needed, Chowder all but jumped to it, with Caitlin in tow. 

“Instructions are inside the box in the closet,” Dex called after them and walked into the bathroom. Nursey hadn’t moved much but was wiggling his fingers in the water playing with the bomb’s foam, so Dex called that a win. 

“Hey babe. Got you some fresh pajamas,” he pointed out, as he knelt beside the bathtub to lace his fingers with Derek’s. “Let’s get you washed up, okay?” Dex asked and seeing the small nod, got to work on scrubbing Derek clean and washing his hair. Working over him slowly, he made sure that Derek wasn’t showing any signs of distress, and knew he was doing well when his boyfriend leaned over to kiss his cheek. 

It took a bit to get Derek freshened up, but by the time they had finished and gotten dressed, Derek was doing most of the walking back to their room. Opening the door for the two of them, Dex led Nursey back into their room which Chowder and Farmer had expertly transformed into the blanket fort he’d planned out. 

He knew Nursey needed to be in a cocoon but his bed was too closed off so instead he had a canopy spanning from underneath Dex’s mattress to the TV atop the dresser. Above the canopy were fairy lights, giving the room a warm glow, but not to bright as to bother Derek. Piled inside Derek’s bunk were extra pillows and blankets and within a few minutes of sitting down, a knock at the door announced their teas and sandwiches had shown up. Dex thanked Chowder before the goalie closed the door, leaving the two defensemen alone to curl up. 

Sitting inside their blanket fort, Dex held Nursey close. He knew that days like this weren’t common but whatever he could do to make it easier for Derek he would. As he watched Derek sip the tea and nibble on his sandwich he caught a smile peeking through, and knew that all his efforts were worth that small grin alone.


End file.
